Sky News reports that Ahmed Ali Alid, 45, told police after his arrest that the attack was "for the people of Gaza" and that if he had access to a machine gun he would have killed more people.
Ahmed Ali Alid, 45, attempted to kill his housemate, a Christian convert, stabbing him in his bed as he slept.
He then prowled the streets of Hartlepool in the UK until he came across Terence Carney, 70, who was out for a morning walk, attacking him and stabbing him to death.
He told police the attack, a week after the Hamas attacks on Israel, was "for the people of Gaza" and he had wanted to kill more victims.
At the end of his police interview, Alid attacked two female officers, yelling "Palestine" and "Allahu Akbar" - meaning "God is great" - as he grabbed one of them and wrestled her to the ground, causing his solicitor to dial 999.